I’m joining Kat & the Unravelers for Unraveled Wednesday!

But first: On, Wisconsin! FORWARD we go!!

I can’t tell you how happy & relieved we were last night. First, to watch Senator Cory Booker’s record-breaking filibuster (gift article) — well, not all of it, but WOW!! And then, even before bedtime, Wisconsin’s Supreme Court race was handily won by Susan Crawford and Brad Schimel conceded, saying “you gotta accept the results.” And thank god for every bit of that. Crawford even won in my mostly red county by a very slim margin.

The image above, now viral and representing Wisconsin all over the world, was created by J. J. Sedelmaier — a UW grad, noted animator, illustrator, designer, author and film director/producer, known for co-creating the “Saturday TV Funhouse” segment—including The Ambiguously Gay Duo and The X-Presidents—on the TV series Saturday Night Live and over 500 other TV and advertising projects. On, Wisconsin. (Note: This info from Wisconsinology‘s FB page, which I haven’t been able to confirm. Kudos to the artist!)

In addition, I finished our taxes and cleaned the bathroom! It was a good day.

KNITTING:

Except for blocking, my first Hitchhiker is finished!

I lost a game of Yarn Chicken by about 12″, but pulled a leftover ball from the pot o’ scraps to finish the job. I suppose I could have wound off a bit until I hit a more colorful area, but no one (except you & me) will ever know or even notice that those last half-dozen or so stitches are different.

The weather is utterly craptastic today… I’ll get a better photo after blocking. I really love how intense the colors are at the beginning, they’re not quite as intense as it progressed. Oh, it’s 42 teeth!

• Ravelry Project Page: Hitchhiker (my first!)
• Pattern: Hitchhiker by Martina Behm
• Yarn: Fingering/Sock – handdyed, of unknown origin
• Needles: US 3 (3.25 mm) long, straight, aluminum needles
• Start to Finish: March 4 to April 1, 2025 (tho yet to be blocked)

Wow, I had to go back to December of ’23 to find a post where I’d actually finished something.

READING:

I’m currently reading Lights on a Ground of Darkness by Ted Kooser, which was mentioned last month by Kat, and then again by Bonny… two tipped the scale & my order was placed. I’ve literally just begun, but I can already tell that it’s right up my alley.

Joining Kat & the Unravelers… for the first time in a while!

KNITTING:

It's another — my second — Summer Camp… just in time for fall!

• Ravelry Project Page: Summer Camp II
• Pattern: Summer Camp by Laura Aylor
• Yarn: Make.Do "Be "
• Needles:  US 5
• Start to Finish:  May 10 – October 28, 2018

Here's a link to the first, which I wore a TON last winter.

The first had 15 stripes + edging and this one has 16 stripes + edging, making a significantly long scarf (around 95") even longer… the new one comes in at almost 14" more. It's long!!

Another thing I did differently was to make that extra section a stripe of a different color. In this case, it's the ninth stripe in the overall scheme of things, and it's a very light teal. Both the teal and the darker contrast color are also present in the yellow variegated yarn. I like that the stripe of a different color shows up near my face… total crap shoot!

READING:

Believe it or not, I'm almost finished with The Best Cook in the World: Tales From my Momma's Table by Rick Bragg. I am enjoying it very much, even though it's taking me forever to read it! I'm listening to Tom Hanks read Uncommon Type: Some Stories, though I haven't been listening much lately… I think I'm in a quiet period right now!

Joining Kat & the Unravelers…

KNITTING

It's an FO and, oh, I couldn't be happier!

• Ravelry Project Page: TTL 2018 Mystery Shawl (more photos there!)
• Pattern: TTL Mystery Shawl 2018 by Kirsten Kapur
• Yarn: Make.Do Be Fingering/Sock; one skein "echevaria," and one skein "natural"
• Needles:  US 5
• Start to Finish:  June 22 – August 12, 2018

There are sections of this shawl that are "true lace" — at least what I've come to know as that, meaning that there is stitch manipulation on both wrong- & right-side rows, not just purling across the wrong side — and my first time ever knitting "true lace"!

It was truly a joy to knit along on this project and I think a big reason for that was the slower pace, with clues released over a period of six weeks.

I knit as usual… risky! I never used a lifeline, and didn't add stitch markers until the end — and thank goodness because they really helped when those few stitches got away from me last week.

There was an optional extended version for people with an extra bit of yarn, and that is what I did.

The bind-off was a pretty little picot-like flower, and I used a stretchy (k2tbl) bind-off for the stitches between the flowers, so it blocked out quite large. I was fairly vigorous with the blocking, but I didn't take it as far as I could have. I love the shape! This would be beautiful in one color, and would make a lovely wedding shawl.

READING

Same as last time (from the slowest reader in the west): The Best Cook in the World: Tales From my Momma's Table by Rick Bragg, and getting close to the end of Calypso (audio) by David Sedaris.